Author C Radhakrishnan

Book Name in Malayalam : അഗ്നി - ഇംഗ്‌ളീഷ് -

Agni, a well-known novelette in Malayalam, is trans-created by the author. Originally written and published in 1963, it has done very well over the years. After twenty-five impressions and serving as textbook for several university courses, it continues to be widely read and discussed. Agni was filmed in 1973, the author himself writing and directing. Selected to form part of the Indian Panorama of Feature Films, it has been screened at major international film festivals including Mannheim, Istanbul, Moscow and Locarno.

Agni analyzes various dimensions of the love-violence equation. The process of transformation of love into violence is probed in depth. Love often results in desire for exclusive possession. This, if blocked or denied, generates anger, vengeance, violence and even terror, in that order. Though the world at large is affected by it, the first casualty is the terrorist himself.

Though the novelette tells a story taking place in a remote village amidst a certain community of special nativity, it is a work of universal relevance for all time.